Title: Blind Square
Artist: Bizau Cristian
Producers: Murphy?s Magic
Link: http://www.murphysmagic.com/Streaming/Product.aspx?id=53836
Retail Price: $10.00 USD
Learning Difficulty: Easy
Length of Video: 25 minutes
Notes: Direct Download
Features:
? Direct Download Link with Video Tutorial
Blind Square is a utility move that allows the magician to control a card placed in the center of the deck to either the top or bottom position with no obvious moves.
There has been a rush of ?new? card moves flooding the market lately with the advent of websites offering people the ability to self publish their effects. A lot of the material put out there can be questionable at best and unreliable at worst. After all why would you want to trust your hard earned money to a 15 year old kid you?ve never heard of before when you can just go out and buy a copy of Card College or the latest from Paul Harris? Then again every once in a while something comes along that catches your eye and makes you take note. For me that would be Blind Square from a young magician calling himself ?Biz?.
As far as the move is concerned I?m surprised no one has published something like this before. It just feels like it would have been something Sankey would have come up with. It?s reliable, it works, and it?s angle sensitive so be careful performing it in walk around. The video wastes no time getting into teaching the effect. By the three minute mark you?ve already learned the move and you?re seeing it redone in slow motion. All the camera shots are the exposed view from over the shoulder and not once do you see him performing this move for a live audience. That always makes me nervous when I see that in a product because it makes me wonder if this is audience tested or if this was just something the artist came up with while sitting on the john one night. I think this video would have benefited from a frontal view of the effect being performed and or combine that with a live audience performance.
Biz also teaches you two transposition moves on the download. The first one is cleverly named ?Transpo #1?. This really is nothing more than a practical application of the Blind Square move presented in the context of a magic trick where two cards exchange places instantly in the deck. Simple, visual, and solid. The next section is called Face Up, and that is Biz?s modification to his Transpo #1 in which the trick is done with the cards face up instead of face down. The second transposition he teaches uses both his top and bottom control to ?lose? two spectator cards in the deck only to return them magically to the top and bottom positions in the deck. This second transposition is my least favorite of the two because of the bottom control move. Let?s talk about that one next.
The Bottom Control though is not as cleaver as the top control as it is dependent on a move that is not naturally motivated at all. I?m not a fan of it. The move works, don?t get me wrong, but it uses a suspicious move as cover. From a performance perspective I?m reminded of a piece of advice one shared with me in my younger years. ?Just because you can do a move doesn?t mean you should.? There are other ways to control a card to the bottom of the deck, and I really would opt for one of those over this one.
The rest of the download is just tips, applications and advice from the creator. Practicality wise this is certainly something you?d be interested in putting into your tool box. The Top Control is usable thought I personally wouldn?t use the Bottom Control but that maybe just personal preference. You might like it. There really aren?t any tricks per say taught on this download. It?s just a move so you?re up to your own means to find a way to incorporate them into your magic. I?m sure you?ll think of something cleaver. Overall I liked most of what I got in this download. I think you would like it too.
When I give my product scores below I am measuring them on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 Being absolute the worst score possible, and 10 being the absolute best, making a score of five average. The four points that I grade upon is Product Quality, Teaching Quality, Sound & Video Quality and Overall Quality.
Product Quality: 6
$10 bucks for a 25 minute video download teaching two utility moves isn?t that bad of a deal. This video NEEDS to have a view from the spectator, and would do much better to have a live performance included.
Teaching Quality: 5
Biz needs to focus more on getting to the point. This looks like this was the first instructional video he?s ever filmed. All the information to learn and perform the move is there but he needs to find a better pacing for teaching it. He also tends to over explain. His presentation style I also found rather dry.
Video & Sound Quality: 7
Audio levels were off during scene transitions, but the video was crisp and clear.
Overall Quality: 6
The Blind Square and specifically the Top Control version are useful. I?m not sure the value of the product extends all the way through the entire length of the video though. I almost feel like you can stop watching at the four minute mark and be good to go. Biz is creative and I?m looking forward to seeing what else comes from him.
